The single best thing they did was to stay on subject all the way. So Yume had no romantic interest. (Not even the soccer guy.) I really hope they do the same this time, but I bet not. What I bet is they split the difference between the previous two mangas. Which would still be crap.

-j

But if that’s what the anime series turns out to be like, then it will be utter crap.

Here Nami and her friends reside in the world of magic, mixed feelings, missunderstanding, unrequited love, hate and passion to realize where they all belong.

Maybe it is time to dial down the enthusiasm a bit. oh well.

—————
The new anime is titled “魔法遣いに大切なこと ~夏のソラ~”(Maho Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~ Natsu no Sora~)”. It seems to be based on the manga with the same title that has just started serialization from the latest issue of Monthly Shonen Ace. It is the third serialization.
http://tuchinoko.sblo.jp/article/10584669.html

*) Sora of the title has double meaning, the name of the protagonist and the sky.
—————

So it looks like it is a third manga, probably not involving Yume.

Her power isn’t quite as earth-shattering in the manga. In the anime she’s clearly presented as one of the most powerful mages to ever live. In the manga, she’s strong but not world class.

The bureaucracy isn’t a stifling in the manga. Mages are permitted to use magic pretty routinely without having to file reports. And there are no rings.

In the manga, Yume loses heart most of the way through her apprenticeship and goes home. A chapter is spent where Ginpun goes to her home, and Ginpun and Etsuko help Yume get it together.

The ending is the big change. Yume uses her magic to permit Masami to talk to Takako. And Takako does show Masami scenes of what it would be like if Takako had lived and Masami had died. BUT, what she shows him is her acting the way he’s been acting, wallowing in self-pity and self-blame, wasting her life in melancholy, pondering suicide.

The feel of the scene is different. In the anime Takako shows him how he should behave. In the manga, she punishes him for what he’s actually been doing. It’s the difference between a hug and a slap in the face. I liked it better the way the anime did it.

The last chapter of the manga is about Yume and Junko, her friend back home. Junko is sweet on a guy, and Yume uses her magic to arrange a meet-cute so they can get close. (In the anime, something self-serving like that would have gotten Yume tossed in jail.)

Angela is a lot less important character in the manga, and Kera isn’t in the manga at all. The manga is so short that there wasn’t enough material to fill even a 12-ep series. So they created a whole lot of new material for the anime — more, in fact, than they borrowed from the manga. The majority of the anime story is new. And the characters are a lot more fleshed out.

I think spoilers are fair game in the comment thread, Steven – let er rip. ahem SPOILER ALERT! I for one am quite curious to know in what direction the story goes.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=8051

Among other things, the Kera character is all new. Angela is a lot less important of a character in the manga. Ginpun is a woman. The ending is subtly different. Same basic idea, but turned on its head. (I can’t go into details without massive spoilers.)

And the last couple of chapters take place after the events shown in the last anime episode.

Unless the original mangaka brought the series back, which is entirely possible but not something I expect, then this would be an entirely new story. I wonder what it will be about?

I kind of thought there might be a special, a one-off, which would pretty much be Melinda and Masami getting married, but if they’re doing an entirely new series then that’s not what (or at least the only thing) it will be about. Anyway, if they were inclined to do a special like that, they’d have done it already.

This is pretty exciting news!